Re: RC: Re: Endurance Bloodlines

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/25/99 11:13:12 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
kmhicks1@juno.com writes:

<< I have to disagree with you here.  IMO, all horses should be put under
 saddle.  It helps to keep them out of the slaughter pens later in life. 
 Just because you are a big breeder and you think you will never have to
 sell your prized breeding stock doesn't mean it can never happen.  I
 could name many breeers who lost it all, or died and the kids didn't want
 to continue.  What happens to all of those broodmares who have never done
 anything but halter? >>

I wasn't talking about broodmares that have been shown at halter here.  When 
I'm talking about horses that may not be started under saddle, I'm talking 
about the sort of situation where a mare may be kept as a valuable broodmare 
when her parents and siblings are good performers but she was injured as a 
baby, or whatever.  Or those cherished producers that one gets late in life 
who have proved their worth by the performance of their get.  Your point 
about broke horses avoiding slaughter pens is well taken, but what about a 
mare like the queen bee of our place?  She came to me in her 20's, and I bred 
the last of her 18 foals.  Her get include an AERC Hall of Fame horse, 
another son who has competed successfully at endurance, a successful race 
horse (and subsequent sire of race horses), a successful show hack horse who 
has himself been a very successful sire of endurance horses, a son who was 
injured and not put into performance but who is siring race horses and 
endurance horses, and several daughters that have produced well.  I believe 
at least one of her younger offspring is just getting started in endurance.  
She turns 30 in February.  Am I worried that she has never been broke to 
ride?  Heck, no.  Another of my best producing mares was flipped out of a 
two-horse trailer backward as a young mare and injured her back.  Her 
breeders took her back and refunded the people their money.  (Yes, there ARE 
breeders out there who care about the fate of their babies...)  I'm tickled 
to death that they later entrusted this mare to me--she will die of old age 
on my place, God willing, just like the soon-to-be 30-year-old (who happens 
to be her auntie).  Will I ever start her under saddle?  No.  She could 
likely be ridden lightly, but her back is rather lacking in flexibility from 
her injury, so why risk it?  She is quite happy and comfortable being a mom, 
and has numerous close relatives out doing well on both the endurance circuit 
and the race track.

I agree that one SHOULD start young horses for the reason you state, but my 
point was that the "proof" of performance need not be done with every 
individual in terms of assessing breeding quality, provided it is done with 
enough so that you have a fairly accurate picture of what a family can do.  

Heidi

PS:  As for what happens if one dies and leaves one's horses--the solution is 
to have a contingency for that. I have a close friend with a similar program 
who has agreed to help place my horses should I ever be killed or 
incapacitated.  We have frank discussions from time to time about who would 
appreciate particular individuals, and he and my husband have discussed such 
a contingency plan in at least general terms.  My parents are also aware of 
who to contact regarding placement of my horses should my husband and I be so 
unfortunate as to meet fatal misfortune together.  A large number of my 
horses are already "claimed" by people who know about my arrangement and have 
expressed interest in particular individuals should anything happen to me.  
My husband is a rider, not a breeder--and he knows "the girls" by their barn 
names, not their registered names.  My friend more or less knows which barn 
names go with which horse, but I keep an updated herd list linking barn names 
to registered names for that very reason.  None of us like to face our own 
mortality, especially in a context of a premature demise.  But we owe it to 
our horses to have some sort of plan in place in case a drunk driver takes us 
out the next time we venture off the property.  I, for one, did not work this 
hard to put these babies on the ground just to have them consigned to the 
local auction should I meet with misfortune.

(BTW--I'm not exactly a "big" breeder, either--more in the small-to-medium 
category.  Unless you were referring to my middle-aged waistline...  :-)  )


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